REVIEW: Dream Season Guide to Heli and Cat Skiing and Snowboarding

Ask any skier or snowboarder what their ultimate snow day would be, and almost all will tell you that untracked, balls deep, empty powder slopes are what they seek. The problem is, these days, with more people heading to the slopes and hiking the backcountry, untracked powder is becoming a rarer commodity.

Yet there is a way to access this nirvana of the snow sports world, and that is by the trusty chopper. With some heli time in the bank, you suddenly find yourself with access to hundreds of slopes that few others will ever lay eyes on, let alone lay lines on.

Introducing, Dream Season, a brand new guide to heli and cat skiing and boarding operations, authored by Bill Wanrooy and Chris Anthony. The 132 page book covers most of the heli and cat skiing companies found around the planet, from those in well known areas such as North America and Europe, to the exotic locales of Greenland, Kamchatka (Russia), Chile and Nepal. Listing full details of each set up, the guide provides practical information such as price, package and contact details, as well as personal accounts of the authors’ own experiences.

Although the price of powder doesn’t come cheap, with many of the heli ski operations charging several thousands of pounds for a multi-day trip, we also discover that untracked crystals can be accessed for more modest fees, with heli time as low as $350 (£185) and cat skiing for a little as $7 (£3.70) per run!

The first book of its kind, co-author Wanrooy aims to make Dream Season the gold standard guide for heli and cat skiing by scouring the globe, putting ski-ops to the test and updating the book every two years.

For those who have got the bling-bling to leave the crowded resorts behind and head to the skies in a chopper, Dream Season provides solid, practical information about where best to go, and a tantalising taste of what to expect.